1. Introduction
Numsa's Special National Congress convened from December 17
to December 20, 2013. It was attended by 1,200 delegates representing 338,000
metalworkers from 50 Locals throughout the provinces of South Africa. Numsa was
proud to announce in the Congress that it is the biggest union in the history
of the African continent. In the last 17 months, since our 9th Congress in
Durban, we have grown from 300,000 members to 338,000 members. We are ahead of
schedule in our goal to organise 400,000 workers by the time of our 10th
Congress in 2016.
2. The passing of Madiba
The congress started by paying tribute to Comrade Nelson
Rolihlahla Mandela as a giant in our struggle for liberation. His passing marks
the end of a political era in our journey towards full freedom.
The congress agreed that, if we are to truthfully and fully
honour Mandela and his Comrades, his passing must herald the birth of our
renewed commitment to intensify the struggle for full economic sovereignty, for
complete economic freedom of the working class and the rural poor. His passing
must spur us to fight even harder for the attainment of all the ideals he stood
for: liberty, freedom, dignity, democracy and full social and economic equality
of all human beings. Not to do so, will be to betray him and his Comrades.
The Congress remembered vividly the words Madiba offered to
the Cosatu Special National Congress in 1993, when he said:
You must be vigilant! How many times has a labour movement
supported a liberation movement, only to find itself betrayed on the day of liberation?
There are many examples of this in Africa. If the ANC does not deliver the
goods you must do to it what you did to the apartheid regime.
3. Unity
There was a lot of talk, in the build-up to our Special
National Congress, about how divided Numsa is. Much was made of the resignation
of our former president, Cedric Gina. Stories were spread of a union dominated
by a single individual. There were even stories, which became the subject of
much humour in the congress, of Numsa's leadership comprising business people
who were simply firing up the militancy of the union for personal gain.
In the last five days Numsa has shown those stories to
contain not one atom of truth. The most notable feature of the congress has
been its unity. Even independent analysts and media commentators have confirmed
the remarkable unity of the membership and the leadership in the congress. The
delegates have been solidly united in their approach to the current crisis of
the working class. There has been vigorous debate on detail, but absolute
agreement on the key decisions that the congress faced.
Numsa emerges from the congress in the same condition as we
went in - united in our militant determination to use our strength to win
fundamental change in the policies and strategies of government as the only way
to solve the triple crisis of poverty, unemployment and inequality.
4. Origins of the Congress and its democratic process
In the view of the Numsa National Office Bearers and the
Central Committee, the situation in the Alliance and in Cosatu had reached a
point which required the leadership to consult our members. The decisions of
our 9th Congress were no longer enough to guide us. The situation had changed
to a point where we needed a new mandate from the membership.
The Numsa Central Committee therefore called this Special
National Congress and Numsa's democratic process swung into gear. Discussions
were held in all 50 Locals and all 9 Regions.
The debate was consolidated at national level and sent back
for further discussion. By the time we arrived at this Special National
Congress on Monday evening, the delegates were all well aware of the issues on
which there was agreement and the issues on which there was a need for more
debate. The congress was founded on a solid base of discussion and debate
throughout the structures of the union.
5. The crisis of deindustrialisation and unemployment
Both the Numsa President and the General Secretary set out
very clearly and at length the context for the deliberations of the Congress.
The global crisis of capitalism continues and offers a bleak
future for any emerging economy that fails to build its own manufacturing
industry. South Africa is not only failing to increase industrialisation. The
ANC government, including its component from the leadership of the SACP, has
presided over a dramatic decrease in the levels of industrialisation in the
country.
This is not an accident; it does not come from incompetence
or inefficiency on the part of the ANC and SACP leadership. It comes from the
fact that the leadership of the ANC and SACP is protecting the interests of
white monopoly capital and imperialism against the interests of the working
class. The ANC and SACP leadership defends the ownership and control of the
mines, banks and monopoly industries in the hands of white monopoly capital and
imperialism. The manipulation of the resolution by the ANC branches on
nationalisation by the leadership, the Deputy President of the ANC (and
others), exploit the black working class in alliance with white monopoly
capitalism and imperialism.
That is why South Africa has been steadily
deindustrialising. It is not in the interests of mining and finance capital to
invest in manufacturing industry, especially that part which does not affect
the MEFC. That is why South Africa has such high levels of unemployment. It is
in manufacturing industry that large numbers of jobs can be created. That is
why our comrades died as they did at Marikana and de Doorns. It was not
incompetence on the part of the police. It was the conscious, deliberate
support, by the armed forces of the state, for the interests of shareholders
and against the interests of workers.
6. Four key developments since Numsa's 9th Congress Many
things have happened since Numsa's 9th congress. We will highlight 4 of them in
this declaration:
The NDP
The ANC has adopted a strategic programme - the National
Development Plan. The fault of the NDP is not that it is technically flawed or
in need of adjustment and editing. On the contrary, it is a very competent and
detailed document. Its fault is that it is the programme of our class enemy. It
is a programme to continue to feed profit at the expense of the working class
and the poor. It is a strategic plan that will benefit white monopoly capital,
imperialism and the comprador black capitalist class, not us.
In the order of priorities of the ANC, the NDP has replaced
the Freedom Charter. A militant, popular programme which challenged property
relations in South Africa has been replaced by a neo-liberal programme which
entrenches existing property relations and attacks the working class and the
poor in the interests of mining and finance capital.
The ANC leadership has clarified that it will not tolerate
any challenge The ANC leadership has demonstrated without doubt, at Mangaung,
that they will not allow anybody else to challenge their direction. The
National General Council of 2010, and Policy Conference which preceded the
Mangaung Conference, had a clear majority in favour of nationalisation. That
majority was transformed by the ANC leadership into majority support for a
fundamentally opposed position in which the National Development Plan focuses
on reducing the role of the state rather than increasing it.
Cosatu has experienced a sustained, vicious attack on its
militancy and independence Cosatu has become consumed by internal battles
between forces which continue to support the ANC and SACP, with its neo-liberal
agenda and those which are fighting for an independent, militant federation
which stands for the interests of the working class before any other. In the
process Numsa has been continuously vilified and smeared by those opposed to
its militant approach, in Cosatu itself, in the ANC and in the SACP.
The state attacked and killed workers on behalf of capital
Both at Marikana and in the farmworkers strike in the Western Cape, the armed
forces of the state intervened in support of the owners of capital against
striking workers. In both instances the result was the murder of workers whose
only crime was to refuse to sell their labour for less than a living wage.
In summary
The ANC has been captured by representatives of an enemy
class. It has adopted the strategic plan of that class. Its leadership has
shown that it will not let the small issue of democracy get in the way of
defending its control. As well as the continued poverty of the majority of the
working class, the result of this has been the slaughter of workers.
It is clear from this picture that the working class cannot
any longer see the ANC or the SACP as its class allies in any meaningful sense.
7. The tasks of the congress
The Congress had to discuss how to respond to this situation.
Numsa has a proud record of support for the ANC and SACP over the last 20 years
that it has been in government and for long before that during the struggle.
For more than 20 years we have been urging our members to swell the ranks of
the ANC and SACP. We have been convinced that it is in our power to move the
ANC and SACP in a direction that supports the working class and the poor.
The evidence, leading up to this special congress, was that
our existing strategy was becoming outdated. Swelling the ranks has merely
resulted in delivering more working class victims, like lambs to the slaughter
by the ANC's bourgeois leadership.
8. Marikana
Marikana is a turning point
Since the first post-apartheid massacre took place in
Marikana, it has been the view of Numsa that what happened on that day, similar
to the 1922 Rand Revolt and the 1960 Sharpeville massacre, marked a turning
point in the social and political life of South Africa.
What happened in Marikana is one of the reasons why we
convened this Special National Congress. As a union we said that after the
mowing down of 34 miners in Marikana, it can't be "business as usual"
in South Africa. How do we explain the killing of striking workers in a
democracy? As a union we have conducted a sustained and thorough analysis of
the political meaning of Marikana.
What we wanted to do at this Congress was to look closer
home and ask what Marikana means for trade unions and the entire labour
movement. We wanted to do this introspection because as Numsa we sincerely
believe that as a union we are not immune from the mass desertion by members of
a traditional union to a new union.
Marikana was a deliberate defence of mining profits and
mining capitalists! Delegates at this Congress were shown a new documentary that
gives an alternative narrative to what we have been fed; that the police in
Marikana were acting in self-defence.
What we saw was that Marikana was a well-planned and
orchestrated strategy by the state to defend the profits of mining bosses.
The Congress resolved
With all this evidence, delegates at this Special National
Congress resolved as follows:
To call for a full and impartial investigation of the causes
of what happened in Marikana as the 11th National Congress of Cosatu had called
in September 2012. This investigation, unlike the Farlam Commission, would look
not only at who pulled the trigger or who gave instruction to murder the
workers in Marikana but would also investigate the root causes of the massacre
such as the persistent migrant labour system and super exploitation of labour
by capital in South Africa.
To call upon the South African government to make available
all the necessary resources and requirements to the Farlam Commission of
Inquiry into the massacre, and more especially, accede to the demand for
necessary assistance to the families of the miners and the injured miners and
their lawyers.
To call for the dismissal of the Commissioner of Police,
General Riah Phiyega.
To demand that all the politicians and individuals who are
in complicity with the police and state in the murder of the Marikana miners be
brought to book.
To demand that the mining bosses accept full responsibility
for the deaths of all the workers on the mines, and that where appropriate,
necessary prosecutions must follow.
To demand the immediate absolute dropping and withdrawal of
police charges against all the arrested Marikana miners.
To call on our trustees to investigate how workers, through
withdrawal of pension fund monies, can punish those involved in the massacre.
A word to the media
The Special National Congress had a word for the media. It
noted the poor media coverage of the massacre, which in the main serves the
interests of private capital. You as media, like us, need some introspection.
International Day of Action
The Special National Congress committed, on behalf of the
entire membership of NUMSA, that if the above demands are not met, we commit
ourselves with our allies to an International Day of Action in support of our
demands.
Numsa and delegates and staff raise R350,000 for Marikana
families Through personal pledges by worker delegates at this Congress and the
entire staff of Numsa, we collected an amount of R80 000 from worker delegates,
R70 000 from Numsa staff and R200 000 from the Numsa Investment Company (R350
000 in total) which will be donated to victims and the children of victims of
the massacre. The National Office Bearers (NOBs) have been asked to investigate
what is the best trust in this regard.
9. On the Alliance
Analysis
The congress noted the history and current situation of the
Alliance and its partners:
The Alliance is dysfunctional and captured by rightwing
forces The Alliance is dysfunctional, in crisis, paralysed and dominated by
infighting and factionalism. It has been captured by rightwing forces. As a
result:
The Freedom Charter, which we understood as the minimum
platform of the Alliance, has been completely abandoned in favour of rightwing
and neo-liberal policies such as the National Development Plan (NDP).
Those who are perceived to be against neo-liberalism or to
be advocates of policies in favour of the working class and the poor are seen
as problematic, isolated or purged.
There exists little common understanding within the Alliance
of the real objectives of the National Democratic Revolution.
The Alliance does not lead struggle
Although there are protests everywhere and every day in the
country, the Alliance is not an instrument in the hands of these struggling
masses, nor does it provide leadership to these struggles, which are largely
leaderless struggles. The reality is that there is a political vacuum and the
working class is on its own.
The Alliance is just for elections
The Alliance operates only during election periods. It is
used to rubber stamp neo-liberal policies of the ANC and not as a centre of
power that debates policy issues and implementation. It is our experience that
the working class is being used by the leader of the Alliance - the African
National Congress - as voting fodder.
The ANC is the only strategic centre
The ANC has resisted the reconfiguration of the Alliance
into a strategic political centre where issues of policy, deployments into
government and programmes are jointly decided upon by all Alliance components.
Our strategy of swelling the ranks has not worked and all resolutions of COSATU
congresses in relation to how the Alliance should function have not been
implemented by the leaders of the Alliance.
In practice the Alliance is still in the hands of one alliance
partner, the ANC. The ANC is the centre and implements government programmes
and policies alone, with little or no consultation with other components of the
Alliance. It has made it very clear that it has no intention of allowing this
situation to change. As evidence of this, the recent alliance summit still
failed to make fundamental changes to the NDP and had no significant impact in
changing policies in favour of the working class and the poor.
This is a common development in post-colonial countries
The treatment of labour as a junior partner within the
Alliance is not uniquely a South African phenomenon. In many post-colonial and
post-revolutionary situations, liberation and revolutionary movements have
turned on labour movements that fought alongside them, suppressed them,
marginalised them, split them, robbed them of their independence or denied them
any meaningful role in politics and policy-making.
There is no chance of winning back the Alliance or the SACP
There is no chance of winning back the Alliance to what it
was originally formed for, which was to drive a revolutionary programme for
fundamental transformation of the country, with the Freedom Charter as the
minimum platform to transform the South African economy.
The South African Communist Party (SACP) leadership has
become embedded in the state and is failing to act as the vanguard of the
working class. The chance of winning it back onto the path of working class
struggle for working class power is very remote.
The working class needs a political organisation
For the struggle for socialism, the working class needs a
political organisation committed in theory and practice to socialism.
Decisions
The Congress therefore resolved the following:
Call on Cosatu to break from the Alliance
Numsa calls on COSATU to break from the Alliance. The time
for looking for an alternative has arrived.
Establish a new United Front
NUMSA will lead in the establishment of a new United Front
that will coordinate struggles in the workplace and in communities, in a way
similar to the UDF of the 1980s. The task of this front will be to fight for
the implementation of the Freedom Charter and to be an organisational weapon
against neoliberal policies such as the NDP. For this to happen our members and
shopstewards must be active on all fronts and in all struggles against
neoliberal policies, whether these policies are being implemented in the
workplace or in communities.
Explore establishment of a Movement for Socialism
Side by side with the establishment of the new United Front,
Numsa will explore the establishment of a Movement for Socialism as the working
class needs a political organisation committed in its policies and actions to
the establishment of a socialist South Africa. Numsa will conduct a
thoroughgoing discussion on previous attempts to build socialism as well as
current experiments to build socialism. We will commission an international
study on the historical formation of working class parties, including exploring
different type of parties - from mass workers parties to vanguard parties.
We will look at countries such as Brazil, Venezuela,
Bolivia, Greece. We will examine their programmes with the aim of identifying
elements of what may constitute a revolutionary programme for the working class
This entire process will lead to the union convening a Conference on Socialism.
Set a deadline for this process
This work to explore the formation of a Movement for
Socialism must be regularly reported to constitutional structures and the work
must be finalised by the first NUMSA Central Committee in 2015.
Look for electoral opportunities
In addition, in all the work being done, whether on building
a new united front or exploring the formation of a Movement for Socialism, we
must be alert to gains that may present possibilities of either the new united
front, or any other progressive coalition or party committed to socialism,
standing for elections in future. The NUMSA constitutional structures must
continuously assess these developments and possibilities.
10. Special resolution on possible inappropriate use of
taxpayers' money to upgrade the President's home in Inkandla Analysis
There are allegations of inappropriate use of public fund on
the President's property There are allegations that taxpayers' money has been
inappropriately used to build a home costing more than R200 million for the
President of the Republic of South Africa. This alleged use of the taxpayers'
money takes place in the sea of poverty in our country. When asked in
Parliament in 2012, the President told the whole nation that development of his
house was from his family's own pockets.
There is an attempt to squash the truth
Since the allegations on use of taxpayers' money for
renovations of the President's home, there have been concerted attempts to
squash the truth about the expenditure including the classification of the
Inter-Ministerial Report on Inkandla, the use of the notorious and apartheid
style legislation such as the National Key Points Act of 1980 as well as the
attempt by the Security Cluster Ministers to interdict the Public Protector.
NUMSA's National Executive Committee has called on all facts on Inkandla to be
put on the table and in public.
This is not an isolated instance
President Zuma's administration has been marked by one
scandal after the other if one considers the landing of the Gupta Group from
India at a National Key Point which posed security risks for the country and
the presence of the President's family in business deals.
President Zuma's administration continues to be
characterized by lack of transparency and attempts to hide the workings of the
state from the Public. An example of this lack of transparency is the passing
of the so-called Protection of Information Bill or Secrecy Bill.
Neo-liberalism dominates
President Zuma's reign has seen the continuation of
neo-liberalism through policies such as the National Development Plan (NDP),
the Employment Tax Incentive Bill, Youth Wage Subsidy, Labour brokers and E-tolls.
This raises the question of calling for the President to
resign
It was correct that the NUMSA President in his opening
remarks raised the question of whether it is appropriate to agitate for the
recall of the State President if the final report of the Public Protector
proves that taxpayers' money was used inappropriately.
As a country, we have a recent experience where the former
State President was recalled for pursuing neo-liberal policies. The Zuma
administration not only pursues neoliberalism but it is characterized by
scandals, nepotism and patronage.
9The Public Protector's report has the potential to destroy
the image of the State President and send a negative image about this country.
Decisions
The Congress condemns attempts to hide the truth
The congress condemns all the attempts that have tried to
block the truth on Inkandla, such as the classification of the report by
Minister of Public Works Thulas Nxesi as well as the interdict of the Public
Protector by the Security Cluster Ministers.
President Zuma must resign
The congress called on President Jacob Zuma to resign with
immediate effect because of his administration's pursuit of neo-liberal
policies such as the NDP, e-tolls, labour brokers, youth wage subsidy, and the
track record of his administration which is steeped in corruption, patronage
and nepotism.
11. The situation in Cosatu
Analysis
The federation is paralysed
The federation is currently in a complete state of paralysis
and about to implode if no serious measures are undertaken to save it, unify
it, rebuild it and reclaim it from forces who want to destroy or liquidate it.
COSATU is no longer a campaigning federation. There has been a failure to
implement congress resolutions such as the resolutions for a campaign against
the banning of labour brokers, against e-tolling and the proposed youth wage
subsidy.
Since September 2012, there has been a failure to carry out
the revolutionary programme adopted in COSATU's 11th National Congress.
There are two voices
There are two voices, crystallised into two camps, coming
from within and amongst COSATU's top leadership:
a camp that wants COSATU to continue to fight for socialism
and against neoliberalism another camp that wants a COSATU that acts as the
"labour desk" of the ANC, thereby consciously or unconsciously
advancing the neo-liberal project underway in South Africa.
The divisions in COSATU are about the soul and the character
of the federation.
There is an attempt to turn Cosatu into a conveyor belt
At the centre of these problems are concerted efforts to
turn the federation into a conveyor belt that feeds ANC-led government policies
into the working class and thus turn COSATU from a revolutionary, militant and
independent union movement into a "yellow federation".
Certain leaders of the Alliance are deeply involved and are
in fact the main drivers of the divisions in our federation.
The SACP is leading this attempt
Instead of uniting the labour movement, the South African
Communist Party (SACP) has been the leader of criticising those who are for an
independent and campaigning COSATU, labelling them as counter-revolutionary.
Motivating the SACP to launch this attack is the official criticism that COSATU
levelled at the Party, arguing that since Party leaders went into government,
the SACP has been absent in mass struggles and has become an apologist of the
government. Irritating the Party more than anything else was the call for the
General Secretary and Provincial Secretaries of the Party to leave government
and be fulltime in the organisation.
The SACP Congress in Ongoye openly resolved to intervene in
COSATU, which is supposed to be an independent formation of the Alliance, to
isolate and defeat us. Ever since then, the political crisis in COSATU deepened
and COSATU divisions worsened.
We need unity in action around a revolutionary agenda
There is no priority more important than safeguarding the
capacity of the working class to act in its own interests. The unity of the
working class is critically important, but it has to be based on unity in
action.
We need to continuously assert, in action, that we need a
united, independent and campaigning COSATU that is able to implement its own
resolutions without favour or fear.
For this assertion to happen in action, the unity and
independence of COSATU is sacrosanct and of paramount importance.
COSATU must at all times advance a revolutionary agenda. We
need to capture the masses through the Freedom Charter and its implementation
because many people and affiliates want to see that happening.
We need an accountable Cosatu leadership
We need COSATU leaders that are first and foremost
accountable to the federation, who adhere to its constitution and are committed
to implementation of the federation's policies, resolutions and programmes.
COSATU leadership, affiliates and members should champion policies agreed upon
in constitutional meetings and not turn them into individual members' or
leaders' mandates. There must be immediate implementation of both the 11th
National Congress and March 2013 Collective Bargaining Conference resolutions of
the federation.
Decisions
We must fight for a militant, independent, unified Cosatu
Numsa shop stewards must continue to be visible and active
in all COSATU structures and leadership positions in order to deepen our
ideological perspectives, to change mindsets and to develop a clear
understanding of the challenges confronting COSATU. We must fight for the unity
and independence of COSATU. It should not be influenced by outside forces and
that we must resist COSATU from being reduced into a toy-telephone. As Numsa,
we should continue driving and championing all COSATU campaigns that are
relevant to the workers and the working class at large.
With all our strength and intelligence, we must continue the
fight to keep our federation independent and on the path of militant action in
the interests of the working class. We must guard against any splinters in
COSATU and the fragmentation of the federation;
instead we must continuously engage other affiliates of
COSATU, winning over those that are on the other side of the trenches.
In striving for unity within the federation, we must ensure
that we alleviate the social distance between the leadership and the general
membership.
We must fight for a Cosatu Special National Congress
Only a Special National Congress of COSATU can help us move
out of the current crisis in the federation. Failing the convening of the
COSATU Special National Congress by the President we will invoke clause
3.3.2.2. of the federation's constitution. This clause states that the COSATU Central
Executive Committee (CEC) can appoint a convenor for the Special National
Congress. In case we fail to have the CEC appoint a convenor, as NUMSA we must
explore other routes beyond possible legal avenues that will lead to the COSATU
Special National Congress being convened.
We must develop a better understanding of Cosatu's crisis
Numsa must conduct further work in order to deepen our
understanding of the crisis in COSATU. This work must explore, among others:
The evolution and historical development of the Federation
The history of and the developments around different unity talks.
COSATU's strategies of engagement and its programmatic
manifestations The shifting class composition and the shifting values within
the federation We will withhold affiliation fees until the Special Congress is
convened As part of the fight, Numsa should adopt the tactic of withholding our
subscriptions to COSATU as an ultimatum for the convening of the Special
National Congress of COSATU.
We will mobilise around a programme of action for a
militant, united Cosatu While we want to guard against splinters in COSATU and
the fragmentation of the federation, we may not under the circumstances
succeed. We must continuously engage other affiliates of COSATU, winning over
those that are on the other side of the trenches. If COSATU is incapable of
remaining united around a militant programme of action we should begin the
process of forming a new federation. But not before embarking on the following
programme of action:
We will organise a march to COSATU House to push the COSATU
leadership to accede to the clarion call for a Special National Congress and
the withdrawal of charges against the COSATU General Secretary. The march
should coincide with the 1st COSATU CEC in February 2014.
We will consistently mobilise the rank and file to build
capacity and enhance confidence amongst all workers and encourage other
affiliates who support the call for an independent, militant and campaigning
COSATU to follow Numsa's approach in terms of ensuring a wider and broader
involvement of members. This must include producing a pamphlet about the crisis
facing COSATU, for circulation to the rank and file across all affiliates.
We will engage the broader mass democratic movement to
appraise them about the impact of the challenges facing COSATU together with
the collective affiliates behind the COSATU Special National Congress.
We give a mandate to the Numsa Central Committee to assess
and to make strategic decisions from time to time towards the COSATU 12th
National Congress in 2015 as part of our struggle to reclaim the federation.
12. Elections
Analysis
This is how the Congress summed up Numsa's view of the ANC:
We have traditionally supported ANC in elections
Since 1994, Numsa has invested resources and personpower
towards ensuring an ANC victory in elections. The Alliance led by the African
National Congress (ANC) expects the working class as the motive force of the
revolution to go all out and campaign and mobilise communities to vote for it,
and to put resources into its 2014 election campaign as they have done in the
past.
ANC dominates its Alliance partners
The ANC continues to undermine the Polokwane resolutions to
make the Alliance a strategic centre of power. In addition, its national
leadership is part of the agenda to turn COSATU into its labour desk through
targeting loyal working class leaders within COSATU.
ANC imposes anti-working class measures
It has just passed anti-working class laws and policies such
as e-tolls, the Employment Tax Incentive Bill, and the regulation instead of
banning of labour broking.
ANC has abandoned the Freedom Charter and any change in
property relations The Freedom Charter, as the basis of our existence as an
Alliance, the glue that brought the Alliance together, has not found expression
in government policies. In fact the ANC no longer adheres to it.
The ANC has not only departed from the Freedom Charter, but
also from the Morogoro Conference core values and the Reconstruction and
Development Plan (RDP).
The ANC-led government continues to ignore and duck the
question of how to fundamentally change property relations in the country.
ANC imposes neo-liberal policies including the National
Development Plan The African National Congress as the ruling party,
particularly since 1996, has and implemented, and still implements, neo
-liberal policies against the wishes of its Alliance partners, particularly
organised labour.
The ANC-led government has imposed the National Development
Plan (NDP), which is a neoliberal policy embedded in the failed Growth,
Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) strategy of 1996. It will not address the
triple crisis of unemployment, poverty and inequality. In fact, it has the
potential to reverse working class gains, even those secured under apartheid.
As the NDP is now the policy of the ANC it has been made
abundantly clear by the ANC leadership that the National Development Plan will
be the ANC government's strategy until 2030. It will be government's blueprint
according to which all government departments and ministries must develop their
budgets for 2014.
Part of neo-liberal policies is the South African Reserve
Bank's continued targeting of inflation instead of jobs. This has produced
massive joblessness.
There is a history of broken ANC promises
Given its track record of not delivering on its manifesto
promises, there is no guarantee that, even if the ANC comes up with a
"progressive" platform for 2014, that manifesto will be implemented.
Decisions
Therefore the Congress decided the following:
NUMSA as an organization will neither endorse nor support
the ANC or any other political party in 2014.
Although endorsing no political party, the union however
recognizes the constitutional right of its members to vote.
Officials and shopstewards who feel the need to campaign for
the ANC or any political organization will have to do this in their own time
and using their own resources.
Any individual member is entitled in their own time to be
active in any political party including getting elected to leadership
positions. However, no NUMSA Office Bearer is allowed to hold any office bearer
position in any political party.
Numsa will cease to pay into the COSATU/SACP political levy.
13. Positioning Numsa as the Shield and Spear of workers
Analysis
There is no such thing as core and non-core workers
Outsourcing "non-core functions" through breaking
up different services within a workplace has weakened unions and shopfloor
organisation. Employers are using the concept of "noncore" to deal
with the strength of the union. In most cases this strategy of employers is not
based on financial reasons but is an attempt to deal with the power of the
union within a workplace.
This fragmentation of the workforce makes it difficult for
outsourced workers to join the union because employers threaten them and tell them
that they will terminate their contracts if they join.
The split of jobs and outsourcing affects us as Numsa as it
undermines the principle of workers' unity and the principle of one industry
one union. A consequence of outsourcing is the emergence of many unions within
a single workplace and the creation of multibargaining forums in a single
establishment.
Pressure in the value chain prejudices workers
Primary employers and original equipment manufacturers
(OEMs) dictate to component companies and providers of outsourced services in
terms of pricing. This leads to the cheapening of the labour of those who work
in outsourced services and the entry of labour brokers.
We cannot ignore workers who want an effective union
Numsa is not poaching members from other unions. Workers are
coming to Numsa on their own accord. It is difficult to turn away workers who
want to voluntarily join Numsa particularly when, if we do turn them away, they
are likely to go to non-Cosatu unions.
Decisions
All workers in our workplaces must be Numsa members
While our first goal should be to intensify our fight
against labour brokers and oppose any new outsourcing in production processes,
where outsourcing takes place and where we are unable to block it, we must
reject management's division of workers into "core" and
"noncore" and organise every worker in workplaces that are in our
sectors, whether they are in cleaning, security, catering, health services or
any other service that is provided in support of activities in our sectors.
We must move to organising along value chains
Technological changes, changes in production and
restructuring of sectors and the impact of value chains necessitate new
organisational strategies. Over time we should move from organising along
industrial/sectoral lines to organising along value chains.
We will study value chains
NUMSA's Research and Policy Institute will thoroughly
investigate the value chain linkages relevant to our industries, including the
possibility of having one collective bargaining for the same value chain. The
outcome of such research will be fed into constitutional structures.
We will register the change of scope from our 9th Congress
We should register the amendments of Numsa's scope of
operation from the mandate of the 9th National Congress in June 2012 which
called for the inclusion of the following:
Glass production, sale and fitment
All car valet and wash bay establishments
the manufacture of jewellery
the refining of petrol, wholesale transportation, extraction
and distribution of petrochemicals
refining of petrol,
The mining and smelting of both base and precious metals
We will register the following additions to our scope:
Drivers that provide support to activities of NUMSA
sectors'.
Building and construction;
Auto industry textile workers (car seat manufacturing);
Security, cleaning , canteen workers and health services
that are employed in all sectors covered by our scope.'
Kiosks linked to garages and forecourts along with ancillary
businesses such as shops, wash bays, restaurants, attached to garages
irrespective of whether they are owned by a franchisee and/or any third party'.
Industrial Chemicals
Alternative energy
Information and Communication Technologies
14. Service Charter
Numsa is a revolutionary union and as such plays a leading
role in the defeat of capitalism and the exploitation that is associated with
it. We are democratic centralist - we believe in robust, vigorous and
democratic debate leading to a united decision and action.
We are going into a period of intensified struggle both with
the bosses and with the state that is supporting them. As we lead our members
in these struggles, they constantly confront management, and management fights
back, disciplining and harassing them.
If we are going to expect our members to continue the
militant fight which we have planned, we must make sure that we constantly
improve our ability to protect and defend them. We believe our service to our
members is good; but we know that it can improve We realized that even though
we have a Numsa constitution and policies, there is no document that sets out
clearly what a member can expect from Numsa and what Numsa expects from its
members.
The congress produced drafts of a summary service charter
and also a more detailed document. The basis of the documents is to outline
what service members can expect from the staff and structures of Numsa and
what, in turn, are the responsibilities of a Numsa member. These drafts will be
finalised by the Numsa Central Committee in 2014. The summary versions of the
charter will be posted on the wall of every Numsa office.
15. Section 77 Campaign
Background
The 9th National Congress of Numsa adopted a set of
socio-economic demands that were meant to reverse neoliberal policies that were
being implemented. The socio-economic demands were also to address the plight
of the working class and the poor in our country.
NUMSA took these demands to the September 2012 National
Congress of COSATU with the call for the federation to serve a notice to go on
a socio-economic strike as stipulated in Section 77 of the Labour Relations Act
(LRA).
Although the federation filed the notice for a Section 77
with the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) at the end
of 2012, little energy has been injected into the campaign. The situation has
been made worse by the political and organisational paralysis that exists in
COSATU.
Numsa will take forward its own programme
After detecting that there was no enthusiasm within COSATU
to mobilise for the socioeconomic strike, the union's July 2013 National
Executive Committee (NEC) meeting took a decision that as NUMSA we should have
our own programme of rolling socio-economic strikes that will be taken on the
basis of Section 77 notices.
The union has established its own Section 77 Task Team led
by the General Secretary. The role of this task team is to coordinate the
programme of rolling socio-economic strikes.
Employment Tax Incentive Act
Despite labour's objection and opposition by the Young
Communist League, the Employment Tax Incentive Act was tabled in Parliament
without National Treasury having taken the Bill to NEDLAC. It has since been
signed into law by the President. The Act provides for tax incentives:
To employers who employ workers earning less than R6 000 per
month and who are 18 to 29 years of age,
To employers who employ people in "Special Economic
Zones". No age restrictions would apply in the tax incentives meant for
SEZs.
To employers who employ workers within sectors that the
Minister of Finance has the power to designate. No age restrictions would apply
in the tax incentives in these designated sectors.
NUMSA has lodged a Section 77 application on the Employment
Tax Incentive Act as the union believes that the Act will have negative
consequences for workers and the working class. It will not encourage real
employment creation. On the contrary it will discourage decent work and will
lead to the displacement of unsubsidised workers, as the protections for
unsubsidised workers are wholly inadequate. It will exert a dramatic downward
and negative pressure on wages, the provision of benefits and other terms and
conditions of employment, resulting in an increase in the numbers of working
poor. It will negatively affect orderly collective bargaining by creating
multi-layered labour markets and result in the exploitation of both subsidised
and unsubsidised workers. It will not promote skills development and training
as there is no mandatory requirement in the bill to link the incentive with
issues of skills and training. By reducing the amount of money that government
is able to raise through taxes it will negatively affect government's capacity
to provide for basic services. Finally, the Act's provisions are not properly
aligned with the provisions of the Labour Relations Act and other employment
laws.
NUMSA is also currently seeking legal guidance regarding
bringing the Minister of Finance to court for not bringing the Bill to NEDLAC.
We will endeavour to convince labour federations (COSATU, NACTU and FEDUSA) and
also SANCO to join the legal matter
Decisions
Numsa's rolling mass action
The Numsa programme will unfold in 6 phases:
Phase 1: Employment Tax Incentive Act; beneficiation of all
strategic minerals, a ban on the export of scrap metals and rebuilding of
foundries, import parity pricing and an export tax on all strategic minerals.
Phase 2: an increase in import tariffs on certain goods to
the maximum allowed by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Phase 3: Nationalisation of the Reserve Bank, exchange
controls and an end to inflation Targeting
Phase 4: de-commercialisation of state owned enterprises and
the re-nationalisation of SASOL and Arcelor Mittal South Africa
Phase 5: Labour market issues and low wage employment
including the minimum wage.
Phase 6: Nationalisation of the mines
Mass action against the Employment Tax Incentive Act
After exhausting all the procedures within NEDLAC, NUMSA has
targeted Budget Day (26 February 2014) as the day when our members will embark
on the first of our protected socio-economic strikes. NUMSA will engage other
COSATU affiliates and urge them to join us in the Section 77 notice on the
Employment Tax Incentive Bill so that we can turn the action on 26 February
2014 into a general strike. The NUMSA Youth Forum has agreed to spearhead the
campaign amongst young people and expose how inadequate the legislation is, in
solving the issue of youth unemployment.
As NUMSA we will build a broad coalition against the law,
bringing into the campaign community organisations, faith based organisations
and other social movements.
16. Numsa's new leadership collective
A vacant position was created when Numsa's former President
Cedric Gina suddenly resigned on 25 November 2013. Cde Andrew Chirwa was
unanimously elected as the new President of Numsa. Before his election on the
first day of this Special National Congress, Cde. Chirwa who is a worker and
shopsteward at Ford assembly plant was the First Deputy- President of the
union. Cde Christine Olivier who was the Second Deputy-President takes over
from Cde Chirwa as the first woman First Deputy-President of the National Union
of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa). A new face in this collective is Cde
Basil Cele who takes over as the Second Deputy-President. Cde Basil is a
veteran worker leader. Until his election, he served as the Chairperson of
KwaZulu-Natal region of Numsa and until recently was the Chairperson of COSATU
in that region.
17. Eskom Dispute
We note with serious concern the failure of Eskom to give a
decent increase for workers. Eskom is pushing for a wage cut for all workers
and this mi8ght set a precedent for paying workers increases even lower than
the rate of inflation. If the dispute is not resolved, Numsa will have no
option but to take action against Eskom, which might include a black out.
